SAN JOSE (KCBS) – The White House has reached out to the city of San Jose for help in fighting gang activity in other U.S. cities.

San Jose city leaders returned from recent meetings in Washington, D.C., where officials with the city and police department were invited to share what the innovative ways the city is reducing gang activity.

“President Obama and Eric Holder are very interested in taking the things we’re doing here and moving it across the country to cities that have much bigger problems than ours,” explained Jose Salcido, senior policy advisor for Mayor Chuck Reed.

“It’s a very difficult issue because it involves schools, it involves poor neighborhoods, people that are very marginalized and don’t feel like they’re part of the community. A very tough social problem to tackle,” Salcido reasoned.

He also acknowledged that San Jose has very recently experienced a spike in violence in San Jose, though he maintained that San Jose’s approach to gang violence works – as long as the effort continues.